Les Claypool - Of Whales and Woe

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Les Claypool is definitely not your average rock bassist. Best known for his stint in the funk-metal band Primus, Claypool has won legions of supporters not only for his virtuosity, but for his quirky sense of humour. At the same time, some find his playing overly self-indulgent and his humour too weird or out of place.

Claypool's bass playing is intricate, complex, and yet always groovy. He combines elements of heavy metal, funk, and progresive rock into his own unique style - his main inspirations are Geddy Lee of Rush and Larry Graham of Sly & the Family Stone.

With Claypool's new solo outing, "Of Whales and Woe", he doesn't set out to change those opinions much. Instead, he does what he does best: he plays the hell out of the bass guitar and he makes unapolageticaly odd music with odd lyrics.

While Claypool has always been the dominant force in his many bands (usually playing bass and doing vocals, even in supergroups like Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains and Oysterhead), this dominance is much more pronounced on his solo album, which is logical, being that it is a solo record. Not only is there less guitar than in his other bands, but when there is a guitar, it's Claypool playing it. Not only that, but he also plays drums. To support him, he brings in saxophonist Skerik and vibraphonist Mike Dillon (both from Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade) and multi-instrumentalist Gabby La La.

The opener, "Back Off Turkey" is an interesting song which serves mostly as an introduction. His 2 children play on it, which is also interesting. In the end however, it's not something you would want to hear more than once.

Which brings us to the second track, "One Better". The cut opens with a funky bass groove which Claypool seems to be constantly changing throughout the song. It has all sorts of weird instrumentation, but it doesn't sound just weird for the hell of it. It actually works pretty well. Even still, the focus remains on the bass.

"Lust Stings" features more guitar work and some really odd singing from Claypool. It's the kind of odd work some will adore and others won't "get" (count me in the latter group for the most part). The title track doesn't do much for me until Claypool breaks into a full jam, where he displays his considerable chops. The Indian-tinged "Vernon the Company Man" features Gabby La La on sitar. Les's vocals are mostly spoken, and it sounds like a poem set to music. Gabby La La actually takes center stage for the most part, with her soloing and Claypool providing a pulsating rhythm with his bass.

"Phantom Patriot" returns to another funky bass riff with quasi-rap vocals and an intentionally over-the-top chorus (made to the reflect the superhero-ish vibe of the subject matter) that grows on you.

A lot of these songs sound like Captain Beefheart or Frank Zappa and the Mothers, especially due to the vibraphone work and Claypool's sillyness and narrator vocal style. However, a lot of them sound like Graham Central Station due to the funky bass playing.

"Iowan Girl" has very little else but Claypool playing bass (I've heard people do that with a six string guitar, but not wit a bass guitar). The vocals are made up of quirky singing about girls from Iowa. Finally about halfway through a bassdrum and a tamoburine kick in and Claypool makes the bass guitar melt with a ridiculous solo. It's probably the best song on here.

Included in here is the theme song to the goofball "Robot Chicken" series on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The fact that it doesn't sound out of place on here should speak volumes about just how quirky Les can be.

To me, alot of times Les's vocals can get in the way of his playing. Sometimes they can add to it, but a lot of times they are just odd additions that the song could do without. Perhaps acknowledging this slightly, Claypool ends the album on the instrumental "Off-White Guilt" (I chuckled at the song title - how often does that happen? Not often enough since the days of the days of Sheik Yerbouti, I say). It's another interesting musical composition, even if Claypool doesn't get to shine too much on it.

This is one of Claypool's more consistently good non-Primus outings. This is a must for all that love Claypool, and fans of Primus will not be dissapointed. Bass freaks will probably thoroughly enjoy Claypool's solos and bass lines. People more in the middle (like me) will find things to like - namely some groovy basslines and some awesome solos, and things that don't work as well - like the vocals or the oddball instrumentation. For the rest and the uninitiated, it will likely fly way over their heads (this is probably not the place to start). Claypool is an acquired taste, but for those who have acquired it, "Of Whales and Woe" is highly reccomended.

- Luis